


how sweet it is (to be loved by you)

by CoffeeAndArrows, moonlitprincess



Series: i'll give you everything i am (all my broken heartbeats) [4]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Camping, F/F, Romance, just literal tooth rottingly sweet ava & sara are on vacation together fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-13
Updated: 2019-03-13
Packaged: 2019-11-17 16:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18102314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CoffeeAndArrows/pseuds/CoffeeAndArrows, https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonlitprincess/pseuds/moonlitprincess
Summary: "Sara woke to the smell of Ava, to the sound of pages rustling and the warmth of a blanket over her middle and Ava’s body to her left, to the sound of children laughing and water splashing and birds chirping overhead and the gentle movement of their hammock swinging every time either she or Ava moved slightly. Everything felt peaceful, calm, until Sara opened one eye and was welcomed by glaring sunlight piercing through the treeline."ORa little look at the sharpe family camping trip, full of sara & ava being nauseatingly sweet and a whoooole lot of sharpe family feelings.





	how sweet it is (to be loved by you)

**Author's Note:**

> oh hey look who's back 
> 
> HEY GUYS 
> 
> so it's been just over a month since we posted ch 35 of you make me smile, and we figured it was time for us to finally resurface from the void that we vanished into and start rolling out some of the one shots and more that we have half written / planned / headcanoned for the literal rest of their lives in this universe. starting with, a lil look at the sharpe family camping trip. 
> 
> welcome back! hope you missed us (and this story!) as much as we have x 
> 
> (p.s. title is the name of the song, written by marvin gaye but there's a million and one different versions out there, go find one, be soft)

Ava was trying to read. 

She was. 

And it wasn’t like she didn’t  _ want  _ to either, it was always one of the things she looked forward to the most about summer. She  _ barely  _ got to read for fun during the school year and it had always been one of her least favourite things about how hard she worked, about how much time staying at an A+ gpa took. Because as much as she loved sports, loved playing basketball with her family, loved sitting on the couch with friends and binge watching TV shows or having movie marathons til early hours of the morning, there was nothing in the world that compared to curling up in a warm, quiet spot and reading. 

Which was why she’d always appreciated the slower, softer moments of their family camping trip, because ever since all four Sharpe children were old enough to look after themselves, there’d been allocated days when they’d all split up to do their separate things for at least a few hours, so everyone could stop standing on each other’s toes and get some space. Ali usually found the Anderson twins, Alec and Kay, (whose family also planned their annual family camping trip for the same time and had become good friends of the Sharpes) and spent the day out at the lake with them. Layla disappeared to sunbathe, Barbara would track down the other campsite moms, while Spencer and Robert tended to go on hikes and explore a new track every year. Ava meanwhile, always pulled a book from the bottom of her pack and occupied her favourite hammock by the lake and read the day away. 

But this year, unlike every other, Sara was here. And it wasn’t like Ava didn’t want her here, because she’d had more fun this week than she’d had on every other camping trip combined. Having Sara here had made everything fresh and exciting and vibrant and fun, and showing off this beautiful, secluded, serene, spectacular part of the world to her girlfriend had made Ava so, unbelievably happy. Seeing Sara joke around with Ali and Spencer, charm her parents, even find ways to connect with Layla and bring out a  _ non  _ asshole side of Kyle had made Ava fall in love with her even more with every passing moment of this trip, more than she ever thought possible. So when Sara had nudged Ava at breakfast and said “So everyone’s doing their own thing today. What do you wanna do?”, Ava had quickly abandoned her usual plans of curling up in her hammock and instead starting thinking of other things she and Sara could do - maybe go swimming, explore a trail like her dad and Spencer were going to, they could meet up with some of Ava’s family friends who she wanted to introduce Sara to. And it had been fun - Sara got along as well as Ava had hoped with the small band of friends she saw for this one week, once a year. They’d found an extraordinary lookout over the forest and taken a ridiculous number of selfies there, before realising it was one of the few spots that had reception and had spent a couple of hours facetiming their friends and seeing what they were up to. They’d met up with Ali, Alec and Kay for lunch, scavenged off the Andersons’ ridiculous amount of high-end food (the Andersons made the Sharpes look poor, took ‘glamping’ to a whole new level), and everything had been great. 

Somehow though, Sara could  _ tell _ . Of course she could. She’d sensed something was off with Ava, as though she was missing something from their day, so when Ali and her friends raced back to the lake to make the most of the afternoon sun, when Ava had made a move to clear up their plates from lunch, Sara had tugged her back down and nudged Ava’s shoulder with hers, smiling softly. 

“So what do you usually do on your days off?” she asked. 

“What do you mean?” asked Ava, trying not to glance over at the hammock she could see out of the corner of her eye. 

“I  _ mean _ , every other year when your mom goes to make chit chat with the other moms and complain about the state of Darlene’s neighbourhood pasta salad -” 

Ava snorted with laughter. 

“- and Layla goes to waste a day turning into a lobster, and Ali meets up with Alec and Kay, and your dad and Spencer have their mandatory ‘bro time’, what do you do? What would you do if I wasn’t here?” 

Ava hesitated, eyes flickering over to her girlfriend. The expression on Sara’s face was curious, fond and open, and Ava felt almost all hint of nervousness about Sara thinking her choice of day-off activity as boring or nerdy vanish. Instead, Ava was momentarily breathless at the vibrant blue of Sara’s eyes, at the way her hair had adopted its natural curl after so many days in the sun and in the lake, at how Sara’s freckles lit up in the sunny glow of the campsite. 

“Aves?” Sara prompted, clearly oblivious to Ava’s lovestruck daze. 

“Right,” said Ava, looking away so she could remember how to speak. “I uh …” She chuckled. “It’s kind of dumb and boring -” 

“I bet it’s cute.” 

“I um … usually just sit in that hammock over there like, all day, and read.” 

 

“You…” Sara started to repeat, but cut off, ducking her head to hide her grin. Of course Ava would spend her free time curled up in the sun, reading - she could imagine it perfectly; Ava lying in the hammock, her skin warm to touch, a small relaxed smile gracing her features. It was just so  _ Ava. _

For a moment, her breath caught in her throat at the image and Sara reached out a hand to pull her girlfriend closer, unable to stop herself from closing the gap between them and pressing a chaste, affectionate kiss to Ava’s lips, relishing in the way Ava tilted her head towards hers to improve the angle. She knew she had a stupid grin on her face and that anyone looking could tell how in love she was, so she just kissed Ava’s cheek lightly before pulling away, tangling their fingers together.

Ava was looking at her as though she expected a response, and it was only then that Sara realised she had gotten so distracted by her perfect, beautiful girlfriend in front of her, that she’d never finished her sentence. She gave Ava’s hand a gentle squeeze, finally saying in a quiet voice “Okay. We should do that then.” 

“You don’t have to -” Ava began but Sara interrupted with a shake of her head and a soft laugh. 

“I want to Aves. Can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon.”

 

There was a sincerity to her voice that Ava didn’t expect and she felt like it shouldn’t have surprised her, but she couldn’t help the quiet “Oh” that slipped from her lips which only made Sara laugh more. 

Which was how they’d wound up here, with Ava really, really wanting to read the book that had been sitting, unopened on her bedside table since getting it for Christmas from Amaya. But instead, she couldn’t stop looking down at Sara, who was curled up asleep beside her and looked far too gorgeous for Ava to pay attention to the story in front of her. Because Sara had one hand curled in the fabric of Ava’s t-shirt, had her head on Ava’s shoulder so Ava could feel her gentle breath on her neck, could feel how warm Sara’s body was, the smoothness of her legs tangled in Sara’s, the softness of her skin and - 

Ava shook her head, chuckling softly to herself as she let her eyes drift up to the treeline above them. She … had it  _ bad. _ Not that that was shocking, but still. Being so distracted by Sara, who wasn’t even awake, that she couldn’t read her book? That was a new level of hopelessly in love. 

Ava was unable to resist gently brushing some of Sara’s hair away from her face, smiling when Sara stirred and burrowed her face further into Ava’s shoulder. She looked so peaceful and small, bathed in sunlight, still and so, so beautiful that Ava couldn’t quite believe that this was real. 

She let herself gaze at her girlfriend for a while, using the excuse that they didn’t get to do this everyday, that napping in her favourite hammock in one of her favourite spots in the entire world with her favourite  _ person  _ in the entire world wasn’t exactly an everyday sort of thing, so she was allowed to relish in the moment for just a bit. But eventually, Ava tore her eyes away and huffed amusedly, rolling her eyes as she pulled her book towards her. 

Reading. 

Right. 

She could do that.

  
  


* * *

  
  


Sara woke to the smell of Ava, to the sound of pages rustling and the warmth of a blanket over her middle and Ava’s body to her left, to the sound of children laughing and water splashing and birds chirping overhead and the gentle movement of their hammock swinging every time either she or Ava moved slightly. Everything felt peaceful, calm, until Sara opened one eye and was welcomed by glaring sunlight piercing through the treeline. She groaned, snapping her eyes shut and burying her face into Ava’s shoulder. 

“I think I’ve been blinded,” she grumbled, poking Ava when she felt her girlfriend shake with laughter. 

“Hi sleepyhead,” Ava said softly, and though Sara could hear the amused smirk in her voice, it was almost completely masked with affection. 

“Hi,” said Sara, draping an arm around Ava’s waist and shifting carefully so as not to overturn the hammock they were squished into. “What time is it?” 

“Around 4:30,” replied Ava. “Dad, Spencer and Kyle aren’t back from their ‘boys’ hike’ yet.” 

“Poor Kyle,” chuckled Sara. “I’ll be surprised if he returns whole, your dad and Spencer will be eating him alive out there.” 

Ava shrugged, grinning into Sara’s hair. “He deserves it. Maybe he’ll stop being such a shitty boyfriend to Layla because he’ll now be so scared of her family.” 

“So either I’m a great girlfriend or I’m waiting to be invited on a super exclusive hike with your mom, Layla and Ali,” said Sara, finally opening her eyes and squinting through the sunlight to glance up at Ava. Ava’s eyes flickered down, smiling when she saw Sara looking at her. 

“You won’t be going on an interrogation hike,” she promised, rolling her eyes before a softer, sweeter smile graced her features. “You’re a great girlfriend.” Sara’s heart fluttered at the sincerity in Ava’s voice, and she couldn’t resist craning her neck to press a brief kiss to her lips, before resting her head back on Ava’s shoulder and letting her eyes flicker shut again as Ava’s right hand moved to card through Sara’s hair. They were both quiet for a while, and the serene hum of the campsite noise almost lulled Sara back to sleep.

“This is nice,” she murmured. “I can’t believe you actually tried to convince me not to come on this trip.” 

“I was nervous!” insisted Ava. “My family are insane.” 

“They’re not insane, they’re charismatic! They’re lovely, Ava.” 

Ava paused, her fingers stilling in Sara’s hair momentarily. “You’re not just saying that?” 

Sara wanted to sit up at the quiet, hesitant tone of Ava’s voice as she asked, wanted to be able to see the expression on her face, but something about the moment told Sara that their regular, confrontational approach to slightly more serious conversations just didn’t work here. It felt like there was a softness to the world right now, a glow in the stillness of them lying there together, Ava’s book sitting open on her lap, kids swimming in the lake just thirty feet away, sunlight breaking through the gaps in the trees and the warmth of summer just perfectly balanced by the slow, creeping in of evening chill. So instead, Sara snuggled closer into Ava’s side and pressed a kiss to where Ava’s collarbone was peeking out of the low cut collar of her mustard yellow t-shirt. 

“Of course I’m not,” she said into Ava’s skin. “You know that.” 

Ava’s hand dropped from Sara’s hair to her waist, her arm curling around Sara’s body and hugging her close for a second as she kissed Sara’s forehead. “That means a lot to me,” she murmured. 

Sara smiled, and her fingers traced Ava’s ribs lightly over her t-shirt. “It means a lot that they invited me on this trip. Seriously. Like, in the scheme of things, we hadn’t been dating that long when they offered.” 

Ava tried to shrug, but Sara half lying on her hindered the movement a little and just jostled them both. Sara let out a very undignified yelp as the hammock rocked, a sound so un-Sara-like that Ava burst out laughing, swaying the hammock even more. 

“Stop, oh my god, you’re going to tip us over!” hissed Sara, slapping Ava’s arm, only making Ava laugh harder. It wasn’t until Ava’s book almost went flying to the ground -  caught only by Sara’s hand shooting out to grab it - that Ava managed to stop, reaching up to wipe her eyes. Sara tossed the book back into Ava’s lap and glared at her. 

“I could’ve fallen,” she accused, but there was no heat to it. 

“You wouldn’t have,” said Ava, eyes twinkling. “I’ve got you.” 

There was something about the way she said it that made any frustration in Sara evaporate, and she glared again half heartedly before relenting and lying back down, eventually smiling when Ava gave her a gentle, apologetic squeeze. 

From the water, they heard the loud, echoing splash of kids jumping off the rocks into the lake, and Sara made a note to herself to force them both to leave the comfort of the hammock at some point before it got dark so they could bribe Ali into taking cute photos of them swimming. Everything here was so clear and undisturbed and beautiful, Sara wanted as many photos of it as possible, and as many photos of her and Ava here as possible. She could see why Ava had said that this was one of her favourite places in the world. 

“What you said before,” said Ava, and Sara turned a little so Ava knew she was awake and listening, “about them inviting you even though we’d only been dating for a little while? They … they all knew. That’s why they offered so early on in our relationship. They’d known for months that I was in love with you, how much you meant to me.” 

Two months since they’d first said it on their bench in Queen’s Park, and it still made Sara feel warm and dizzy. 

“I can’t believe literally everyone around us knew and didn’t just  _ tell  _ us,” she muttered into Ava’s shoulder, shaking her head. “No stupid sideways attempts to make us tell each other, no pranks or bets or anything - if they’d just said  _ something _ , we could’ve been doing this like, six months ago.” 

Ava hummed in agreement, her fingers lightly tracing the divots of Sara’s spine. “Yeah. Honestly though? We were so close this year, and my family got so used to us hanging out all the time, that I think even if we  _ hadn’t  _ gotten together, they still would have invited you.” 

Sara shuddered, murmuring “Don’t make me imagine a world where we didn’t get together at the end of last year, no thank you, not a chance.” 

Ava laughed, but a little less brightly than before because yeah, the thought of them having  _ not  _ gotten together three months ago was something that made her feel slightly sick. She pushed the thoughts away quickly, tilting Sara’s chin up with her free hand and kissing her, smiling when Sara’s hands drifted upwards to rest at her neck, Sara’s weaving her fingers into Ava’s hair gently. A voice in the back of Ava’s head was reminding her that they were in the middle of the campsite, but Sara’s lips were almost hypnotic, and everything about her was so intoxicating that for a moment, everything else just drifted away.

“So what’re your thoughts about hammock sex?” Sara said jokingly when they finally broke apart. 

“Impractical,” said Ava immediately, but she kept her lips inches from Sara’s. “Also, probably illegal given the public location and the number of kids nearby. Finally, an all around bad idea given the fact that my family could come back at any time.” 

Sara sighed overdramatically, but the glint in her eye assured Ava that she wasn’t serious. “Maybe we can get one of these for one of our college dorms,” she said, winking. 

Ava couldn’t help but laugh, letting her head fall back onto the pillow behind her. “C’mere you weirdo.” 

Sara let Ava pull her down again, and they settled back to the way they had been before: Sara dozing lightly cuddled into Ava’s side, and Ava reading, both feeling like the world could burn down around them and neither of them would notice, or care.

 

* * *

 

It was nearly an hour later that Robert, Spencer and Kyle came back from their hike. Kyle gave a slight nod to other two men before tossing his pack into their tent and disappearing to go find Layla. Spencer and Robert grinned at each other as soon as he was gone. They hadn’t been  _ too  _ hard on him - Robert knew they could’ve been much worse, especially considering how much Ali had told him about how rudely Kyle treated Layla. But they’d certainly done enough to freak him out a little, at least taken his ego and backbone down a few notches so that he would hopefully pay her a little more attention about more than just sex. 

On the way back, they’d passed another family, and the two young brothers had been having a lively, animated debate about their favourite basketball players. The profanities and vehemence they’d both risen to using had made Robert and Spencer dissolve into uncontrollable laughter the minute they were out of earshot, and Robert had immediately wanted to tell Ava about it. But once he’d taken off his pack, surveyed the campsite for a sign of his daughter, and caught sight of where she was, he was instantly dissuaded from going over to talk to her. 

He shouldn’t have been surprised - Ava had spent every day off during their camping trips in that hammock since she was eleven. He shouldn’t have been surprised that Sara was there either, but something about the sight of them lying there - not even looking at each other but talking about something that Robert knew was silly and unimportant but still had them grinning and laughing - made something in his heart grow. The smile on Ava’s face was so bright, so unrestrained and pure that Robert just stopped and stared for a minute. She was just  _ happy.  _ Uninterruptedly, unabashedly, joyful and happy and so, so in love. And he could tell Sara was too, at the soft, affectionate fondness on her face as she gazed at his daughter, at the way she curled in closer as Ava talked and laughed loudly when Ava made a joke. 

Robert made a mental note what Ava’s smile looked like like this, of how carefree and beautiful and young his daughter looked when she was so hopelessly in love, and then turned to duck into his tent and clear up a bit. 

He’d just leave them be for a while. Basketball jokes could wait for another hour. 

 

* * *

 

Barbara returned around forty-five minutes later. 

By then Ava and Sara had been briefly coaxed out of the hammock by Ali (who had shaken her hair out and sprayed water all over them as incentive to get into the lake). Robert had been sitting by the campfire starting to make dinner when Ali had come over to them and had clearly been able to see Ava’s reluctance to move. But Sara had immediately hopped out of the hammock and given Ava a pleading pout, before stripping off her t-shirt and shorts to reveal her bathing suit. Ava’s eyes had widened and she’d pinched the bridge of her nose before also shuffling out of the hammock, and Robert heard her amused “That was just playing dirty Lance” as Sara laughed, tugging her girlfriend towards the lake. 

He’d watched them join Ali, Alec and Kay, their squeals and laughter ringing through the air. Ali had run out upon Sara’s request to grab her phone from the hammock, taking a few photos of the couple and what Robert thought he remembered Ava calling a  _ boomerang _ of them jumping off the large rock on the right edge of the lake. They’d stayed in the water until the evening chill began to properly set in, then Ava and Sara had gotten out (not Ali, who had always been the last to leave the lake every year, even when she was four and had first learn to swim in it) and returned to the hammock, wrapping themselves in towels and drying off in the last vestiges of evening sun before tugging on sweatshirts to stay warm (Robert was pretty sure both the sweatshirts belonged to Ava, confirmed when Ava raised an eyebrow and nodded towards the grey article of clothing Sara had pulled over her head. Sara just rolled her eyes and grinned a little shyly, and Robert couldn’t help his wry smile). They weren’t lying down anymore, instead sitting on opposite ends of the hammock with their legs tangled in the middle, still talking as exuberantly as they had been before. 

He didn’t realise his wife had returned until he heard the  _ thump  _ of a bag hitting the ground, and he glanced over his shoulder to smile at her. 

“How were the ladies?” he asked. “Was Lynn’s potato salad as bad as last year?” 

“Worse,” said Barbara dryly, and Robert laughed. He saw the moment her eyes locked on Ava and Sara, saw the surprise flicker in her eyes and the softness creep into her expression as she gazed at them. It was at that moment that Sara said something that made Ava laugh, the same bright, sunshine laugh that Robert remembered from when she was little and it made his chest ache with both joy, for how beautiful and grown up his daughter was, and sadness, for exactly the same reason. He’d forgotten momentarily that his wife was behind him, and startled when she said “She’s so happy” in a quiet, awestruck voice. 

Robert glanced back over at Barbara, his voice thick. “I know.” 

Barbara shook her head, stepping forward a little. “I … I don’t think I’ve ever seen her like this.” Robert knew, could tell that any lingering, perhaps inadvertent misgivings his wife may have had about their daughter’s sexuality had immediately disappeared. He gently stoked the fire, nodding. 

“I haven’t been able to stop watching them since I got back. I know that should be weird, but this is the first time we’ve seen Ava like this, you know? Even Ali’s had a relationship before.” 

“I suppose that’s partially my fault,” said Barbara quietly, and Robert could hear the regret in her voice. 

“The fact that you acted that way isn’t entirely your fault either,” he said, reaching out to pull his wife down to site beside him. “You were raised to believe those things. It’s the fact that you changed your mind that matters, and Ava knows that.” 

Barbara leaned into him, smiling a little when Ava rolled her eyes at something Sara said and threw the blanket into Sara’s face, only for Sara to catch it and pout indignantly. 

“I hope so,” she murmured, and then the two of them lapsed into silence, watching the radiant beam on their daughter’s face for as long as they could before they knew they would be forced to turn their attention elsewhere.

 

* * *

 

Somewhere between first catching sight of her daughter and Sara in the hammock, and being pulled away by Layla and Ali’s bickering, Barbara made up her mind to mention  _ something  _ about her approval of Sara to Ava. She knew, had known for months now, the toll that her and Ava’s strained relationship had had on them both, and after everything that had happened in the past couple of years - Ava’s coming out, the increased tension between them, Ava discovering she was adopted, beginning her relationship with Sara - Barbara couldn’t help but feel the need to at least on some level, make things right. They’d made so much progress in what felt like such a short amount of time, but there were so many conversations they still hadn’t had, reassurances that Barbara knew her daughter needed to hear.

But the craziness of their family didn’t disappoint, and within the couple of hour span of preparing and then eating dinner, somehow Layla and Ali weren’t talking, which Barbara supposed was better than full on arguing the way they had been before Robert had separated them.

It was only nearing eight, when the forest had dropped to the quiet lull of evening and the sky had begun to fade into a soft, peachy pink, that the moment arose. Ava was clearing dishes, walking over to the kitchen and bathroom hut that all the families on the campsite shared. Barbara glanced over her shoulder, making sure Robert had their other two (now incredibly sullen and sulky) teenage girls under control before getting to her feet and hurrying to follow Ava into the hut. Ava was already washing their plates when Barbara walked in, and she couldn’t help but take a moment to admire her daughter for a second. She didn’t know when, couldn’t remember it, but somehow she’d blinked and Ava had stopped being this fierce, tomboyish little spitfire of a girl, and instead become a tall, beautiful, well-mannered, determined, intelligent young woman who had so much poise and grace and kindness that somehow, Barbara had been blind to all these years. 

“Mom?”

Barbara startled at Ava’s voice, smiling slightly when she saw Ava glancing over her shoulder with a confused frown on her face. 

“Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” said Barbara. “Just coming over to give you a hand.” 

“Oh,” said Ava. “Thanks.” She tossed her mother the tea towel and Barbara moved to stand beside her and dry the large stack of dishes they’d used at dinner. “So, how’re all the other camp moms?” 

“Mostly the same,” replied Barbara. “Complaining about their husbands, kids, mortgages, and wondering whether it’s possible to convince the family that next year’s vacation can be to Costa Rica where they can sip Mai Tais and have beautiful pool staff at their disposal.” 

Ava snorted, shaking her head. “I swear every year is like watching a real life conversation from  _ Desperate Housewives.  _ Was Lynn’s potato salad -” 

“As bad as ever?” finished Barbara. “Yes.” She paused, revelling in the sound of Ava’s laugh, soaking it in and gathering up the courage to eventually say “Listen, Ava … I wanted to say … I know we haven’t always seen eye to eye.” 

Ava stiffened, her hands stilling and her eyes flickering over to her mother. “Mom, we’ve already had this conversation -” 

“Just … let me finish, okay?” 

Ava nodded hesitantly, wiping her hands on her t-shirt and turning to face Barbara. 

“I know I’ve been hard on you and made a lot of aspects of you figuring out who you are difficult. And we’ve talked about this before so I know I don’t need to go into it all again, but I am sorry for that.” 

Barbara was surprised with Ava reaching out to grab her hand, squeezing tightly. 

“Mom, I know,” she said softly. “You don’t have to apologise.” 

“That’s not what this,” Barbara promised. “I just wanted to say … I saw you and Sara earlier. Talking. In the hammock.” She saw the colour rise to Ava’s cheeks and ears, and couldn’t help but smirk a little before it mellowed into something a little more sincere. “You seem happy, Ava.” 

Ava’s face split into a wide smile, one that made her eyes sparkle and the dimples in her cheeks appear. She ducked her head down shyly. “I am.” 

Barbara let out a quiet, relieved exhale, tightening her hold on Ava’s hand. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted for you. You know that right?” 

A mixture of emotions flickered through Ava’s eyes, too many for Barbara to try and decipher, before Ava suddenly threw her arms around her mother’s neck and hugged her tightly. Barbara caught her footing and slid her arms around her daughter, holding her close and realising with a jolt that she could count on one hand the number of times the two of them had hugged in the last five years. 

“I know,” whispered Ava, and Barbara could hear that her voice was thick with tears. 

“I love you Ava. And … I’m so, so very glad to see you this happy.” 

Ava pulled away, hurriedly brushing her palms over her cheeks and giving her mother a small, grateful smile as she whispered “I love you too.” Her eyes glinted with something resembling amusement, before her lips upturned with a more confident, wry grin. “So you approve of Sara then?” 

Barbara scoffed. “I don’t think I realised  _ just  _ how bad Layla’s boyfriends were, until I met your girlfriend. Yes, I approve.” 

Ava stared at her for a moment, eyes wide. “You just called her my girlfriend.” 

Barbara raised an eyebrow. “That  _ is  _ the word for it right? I haven’t missed some ridiculous evolution of millennial colloquialisms?” 

“No, no, it’s just -” Ava shook her head, laughing softly. “You’ve never said that word before.” 

Barbara paused, realising suddenly that Ava was right. Before she could vocalise her regret over it taking her this long to voice something so trivial yet so important, Ava had stepped forwards and hugged her again, tighter than before. 

“Thank you,” she mumbled, and Barbara just snapped her eyes shut, wrapped her arms around her daughter and smiled. 

 

* * *

 

“We really love her you know. Sara.” 

Ava glanced across the camp fire in surprise at her father’s voice, squinting through the flickering flames to meet his eyes. He was gazing at her thoughtfully, his eyes soft and full of adoration and Ava suddenly wanted to move to sit beside him and curl up in his lap the way she had when she was six. 

They were the only two sitting here - Barbara had retired to bed, and Kyle and Layla had snuck off into the woods somewhere (assumedly to have sex on a rock or something). Sara was just ten feet away, playing lakeside soccer with Ali, Kay, Alec and Spencer, and as much as Ava didn’t mind sharing this family camping trip with Sara, the ‘basically sitting on your dad’s lap’ kind of closeness still felt kind of embarrassing in front of her girlfriend of only three months. Instead, she just shot her dad a small grin and said “I mean, I should hope so.” 

Robert shook his head with a quiet chuckle. “You know what I mean. I already liked her when she was your best friend but … I like her more now that she’s your girlfriend.” 

Unlike her mother, Robert had referred to Sara as her girlfriend before, but it didn’t stop Ava’s stomach’s from fluttering in pleasant surprise at the term. She nervously rubbed at a torn patch of her jeans, unable to stop the quiet “You do?” that slipped past her lips. 

Robert’s smile widened a little, and he stood, crossing the small space between them to sit on the log beside Ava, nudging his knee against hers. “Yeah, I do.” 

His eyes flickered over to where Sara was expertly evading Spencer’s attempts to steal the ball, her feet moving so quickly with incredible soccer skills that Ava knew she would never stop being impressed by. Eventually, Spencer gave up and just stepped forward and lifted Sara onto one shoulder (Kay swiping in to take the ball), laughing when she squealed indignantly and pounded on his back, yelling “Spencer Sharpe, put me  _ down _ !” Spencer ignored her, asking Ali whether throwing Sara in the lake would cost him his life, to which Sara threateningly growled “No, but it’ll cost you something else that I don’t think you wanna lose Spencer, I swear to God -” 

Ava and Robert both laughed, and Robert seemed to snap back into the present at the sound of it. 

“She makes you happy,” he said, eyes resting on his daughter’s face. 

Ava nodded, fiddling with the cuffs of her sleeves to stop herself from staring at Sara again. “Yeah. She does.” 

Robert paused, reaching out to gently tuck some of Ava’s hair behind one ear before he murmured “I’m glad you’re going to college together. I know parents should want their kids to branch out and find new people and try not to hang on to the best things from high school and all that bull but … I’ve never seen you smile like this Aves,  _ never.  _ I want you to always be this happy, and if Sara’s the one that makes that happen, I can honestly say I hope you guys work. You know. Forever and all that cliche stuff.” 

He had his classic, crooked wry smile on his face but the sincerity was clear in his eyes, and Ava’s eyes widened, her jaw dropping just a little as the full meaning of his words sunk in. It wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about it - it was impossible not to let her mind drift from time to time to the possibility that she and Sara could work all through college, become closer and stronger and move in together somewhere along the way, that after they graduated, they would find somewhere that had opportunities for them both, grow up together, get married, have kids - 

But they’d only been dating three months, so Ava had told herself that those were just silly dreams that came part in parcel with a serious relationship. Somehow though, her dad saying it made the possibility so much more  _ real  _ and plausible. She didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to deal with the emotions of both her parents giving her their wholehearted approval for her relationship within the course of just a few hours, so she surged forward into her father’s arms and let him pull her close, murmuring a quiet “That means so much Dad,” into his shoulder. Robert pulled away after a few moments, pressing a gentle kiss to Ava’s forehead. Ava leaned into it, soaking in the familiar, comforting smell of bonfire smoke, cologne and her dad’s aftershave as she rested her head on the side of his arm. Robert let the silence sit comfortably between them for a moment, before an amused smirk crept onto his face and he nudged Ava, saying with a wink, “And hey. I’m glad to see the crazy old Sharpes haven’t scared her off just yet.” 

“Don’t worry, there’s still time,” said Spencer, who had let Sara back on the ground and at some point wandered back to the campfire, his eyes dancing with mischief. “I could still throw her in the lake.” 

Both Ava and Sara chorused “Fuck off Spencer!” in unison with equally fierce expressions of indignance on their face, and everyone burst out laughing so hard that Robert couldn’t even bring himself to chastise them for their language. 

 

* * *

 

Sara felt like an absolute idiot at her inability to wipe the wide, cheesy grin off her face. 

If anyone could see her now, her suave, cool, nonchalant persona would be crushed for good because she was pretty sure she just looked like a lovestruck puppy who couldn’t stop smiling at how happy she was. 

She’d thought she had the market cornered on good days because yeah, for all the crap she’d had happen in her life, she wasn’t going to deny that she’d had some amazing things happen to her too. She remembered the day she scored her first goal in soccer, remembered her mom, dad and Laurel’s cheers. She remembered the first time Nyssa kissed her, and the burst of warmth and butterflies in her stomach that had erupted and seeped through her veins. She remembered the shock and then pure pride she’d felt when their French teacher had placed her big assignment on her desk and a bright, red  _ A+  _ was circled at the top. She remembered the buzzing in her bones and the ringing in her ears when she was encircled by her soccer team after a good victory. She remembered the day she’d opened her college acceptances, the way the ice cream tasted better somehow, the way the world felt crisper and brighter as Ava had driven them out to Laurel’s rehab clinic to tell her the news. And more than anything, Sara remembered the district championships from earlier in the year, remembered the elation and heartbreak of thinking it was her last match, remembered the way she felt like she was  _ floating  _ as the final whistle blew and their triumph was secured, and remembered more clearly than anything else, the astonishment and pure hopefulness on Ava’s face when the signs went up in the crowd, the soft disbelief in her voice as she’d whispered ‘ _ Yes _ ’ and then the feeling of her lips on Sara’s - gentle and warm and  _ perfect -  _ for the first time. 

But today … for some reason, today felt like something else altogether. She didn’t know what it was - whether it was the seclusion and beauty of where they were, or whether it was getting the chance to spend every waking moment with Ava, or whether it was just how fun and open her family was - but regardless, Sara felt like nothing in the whole world could stop the lightness in her heart and as much as she felt ridiculous for it, she wanted to be able to bottle it up and keep it forever because she wasn’t sure she’d ever felt  _ this  _ happy before. 

Wobbling a little as she tugged off her bathing suit, Sara reached into her bag and pulled on some underwear and her extra large sleep t-shirt (well, Ava’s t-shirt). She had just finished rubbing bug spray into her legs when Ava’s voice filtered through the tent from outside, asking “Hey, you decent in there?” 

Sara rolled her eyes. “It’s  _ you _ , so does it matter if I’m not?” 

Ava ducked through the tent flap, and Sara laughed as she caught the tail end of an eye roll over her shoulder. Before she could return it with a teasing retort, Ava suddenly had come up behind her, wrapped her arms around Sara’s waist and was pressing a series of soft, affectionate kisses to Sara’s neck. Sara let out a soft squeak of surprise before relaxing into Ava’s hold, sliding her arms over Ava’s and leaning back into her. Ava’s lips trailed up one side of Sara’s jaw before she gently kissed Sara’s cheek and hugged her tightly. Sara managed to swivel around without detaching Ava’s arms from around her waist, looping her own around Ava’s neck and leaning in close. 

“Well hi,” she said with a soft chuckle. “What was that for?” 

Ava shrugged. “I just love you.” 

Sara’s stomach flipped the way it always did when Ava said it, and she wondered for a moment if she would ever stop feeling like she was flying when those words slipped from Ava’s lips. She curled her fingers into the fabric of Ava’s shirt at the nape of her neck, her thumb lightly brushing against the skin there. She opened her mouth to return the sentiment, but Ava was talking again before she could. 

“Thank you.” 

Sara leaned back, surprised, and couldn’t help the confused furrow of her eyebrow. “For what?” 

“For …” Ava shook her head, moving forward to rest her forehead against Sara’s. “I don’t know, for being you _.  _ For being there for me last year, - before that even - helping me through coming out, through all my family stuff, and well … just,  _ everything.  _ For  _ this.  _ I can’t believe I have this right now. Have  _ you. _ ” 

There was something about the reverence in her voice that caught Sara off guard. She could hear the soft, awestruck disbelief in Ava’s voice, hear the emotion and truth to her words and there was suddenly a lump in Sara’s throat that she couldn’t swallow, an emotion that went beyond words and beyond anything she knew how to express, tears burning in the back of her eyes and an overwhelming burst of love and affection that she had no idea what to do with. So instead she just slunk onto her toes and pulled Ava forward by her neck, kissing her hard. Ava made a muffled noise of both surprise and approval, her hands tightening on Sara’s waist. But as she moved to step in closer, her feet got caught on the strap of one of their packs and she tripped, her weight overbalancing into Sara and before Sara knew what was happening, they were both tumbling onto Ava’s air mattress, Ava with a strangled yelp and Sara with a loud shriek, landing with a loud  _ thump.  _

They lay there for a minute, both winded, when Spencer’s voice called out from the outside “You guys know tents aren’t soundproof, right?”, followed closely by Ali saying dryly “Just don’t have sex on my bed please.” 

Ava groaned and Sara glanced over to see her cheeks burning, and couldn’t help but burst into giggled laughter at both Ava’s siblings’ retorts. Ava looked at her in both surprise and exasperation, but seemed unable to stop herself from losing it too, dissolving into loud laughter that they both knew would clear up any ideas that they were doing anything more than talking in the tent. 

Sara reached over through her tears (now) of laughter to Ava’s stomach, finding Ava’s hand and curling their fingers together tightly. 

“I love you too,” she said in barely a whisper, knowing Ava had heard it when the last of her laughter died down and her eyes flickered to Sara’s face. “So so much. I feel like there needs to be another word for it or something because  _ I love you  _ just doesn’t seem to cut it anymore, not for how I feel about you.” 

A moment passed before Ava rolled onto her front, propping herself up onto her elbows so was looking down at Sara, gaze slowly drifting across her lips and cheeks and freckles until their eyes eventually met, and it barely took a heartbeat for Sara to recognise the agreement in Ava’s eyes, the acknowledgement that whatever this was between them, they’d never be able to put it into words.

“Yeah,” Ava agreed softly, ducking her head down to press a gentle kiss to the tip of Sara’s nose before pulling away, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she watched Sara’s cheeks flush with an awkward, affectionate embarrassment. Sara swallowed, searching for something to say but coming up empty because it was getting more and more difficult to think with Ava this close to her, t-shirt hanging off her shoulders just enough to show the dark bikini straps stark against her still-pale collarbones, weight warm and comforting above her, breath falling teasingly against Sara’s lips. Thankfully, Ava saved her from responding by leaning down and kissing her properly, everything neither of them could manage to voice pouring into the brush of their lips and the tingle in her fingers and the way her heart fluttered when Ava brought her hands up to gently cup her cheeks, just possessive enough to remind Sara that she was  _ hers,  _ and would be for as long as she wanted to be.

 

“D’you wanna come next year?” Ava asked softly when she eventually pulled back, combing a few strands of hair off Sara’s forehead, fingers trailing across her temple before gently tucking the curls back behind Sara’s ear, fingers lingering at the nape of her neck and curling into the short hair there. Sara blinked, attempting to refocus her brain on Ava’s unexpected question rather than lifting her head up to follow her lips, pulling her back into a kiss.

The vague reminder that they’d only been together  _ three months _ briefly flared in her brain and for a second, she was caught up by a familiar swirl of anxiety. She’d found herself doing this way too much over the summer - making plans, imagining scenarios, planning years ahead under the assumption that she and Ava would just stay together. Which of course she wanted them to, but the logical part of her brain was still loud enough for her to know that they were only 18, that your high school sweetheart was very rarely the person you ended up with for the rest of your life. Hell, they might not even still be together by next summer. College was a  _ completely  _ different world from everything they knew right now. 

“Hey,” said Ava, her voice still soft and smooth and snapping Sara back to where they were - to this quiet, secluded spot of  _ perfect _ , to the rustle of sleeping bags under tarp under Sara’s back and Ava hovering over her, eyes warm and affectionate, touched with the slightest hint of concern at Sara’s sudden distraction. “Where’d you go?” she asked a little teasingly. Her smile made Sara’s stomach swoop and all thoughts of wondering whether they’d both fallen far too fast melted away, replaced by an overwhelming, all-consuming  _ yes _ .

“You’re not gonna list all the reasons you think it’s a bad idea this time?” she asked with a grin, arching an eyebrow but instead of the blush she was expecting, Ava smiled wider. 

“Nah,” she said softly, punctuating her response with a kiss to the corner of Sara’s mouth, thumb brushing lightly against her neck, just below her ear. “ ‘Cause it’s not.” 

She paused as the sound of Ali’s laugh reached their ears, followed by the low rumble of Spencer and Robert talking from over by the campfire, voices too distant to make out anything they were saying. Sara found herself matching Ava’s smile without thinking, unable to control the warmth within her chest even if she’d wanted to. 

“Next summer is a long time away,” Sara said slowly, carefully, praying that her words didn’t break this bubble they were safely cocooned in. Ava’s eyebrows furrowed and Sara saw the realisation of what she was getting to flicker in Ava’s eyes. 

“I know,” Ava said just as slowly, absentmindedly - almost shyly - trailing her thumb across Sara’s collarbone. “It’ll feel like a lifetime.” 

Sara nodded. “Yeah.” 

Neither of them spoke for a few moments, and Sara was tempted to try and brush over this tentative conversation, to distract Ava by pulling her down into another kiss, to test their limits of how much they could get away with with Spencer and Ali and the others just a few hundred yards away, to drag them away from the awful possibility that everything that was so happy and beautiful and perfect right now could be gone by this time next year if life decided to pan out that way. 

But then, the warmth filtered back into Ava’s eyes and her smile - even softer and sweeter than before - reappeared as she gently brushed some of Sara’s hair away from her face. “I can’t wait for us to come back here,” she said, quietly, but so confidently that it made overwhelming, wonderful relief rush through Sara’s entire body. With a soft laugh, Sara curled her fingers into Ava’s t-shirt and tugged her down for a kiss. 

“Yeah,” she murmured against Ava’s lips. “Me too.” 


End file.
